Abundant Displays of Fruits Hang Heavy on the Trees & Shrubs of The Royal Landscape, Windsor Great Park

20th September 2011

This summer may have been a disappointment with cool and showery conditions but, in The Royal Landscape, it has resulted in a vintage display of decorative fruits on a wide range of ornamental trees and shrubs. 

Mark Flanagan, The Keeper of the Gardens, Windsor Great Park, comments

“The warm, dry conditions in the spring were perfect for pollination of flowers and the ample ground moisture available through the summer seems to have been just right for the formation of fruits. We are seeing magnificent displays on many of our exotic species such as rowans, viburnums and barberries. It is also interesting that this seems to be a mast year for the native oak trees, when they produce exceptional amounts of acorns, which only occurs every so often”.

The Savill Garden and Valley Gardens within The Royal Landscape at Windsor Great Park have an outstanding collection of plants for autumn fruiting and a stroll through the gardens will be rewarded with some wonderful sights.

Mark Flanagan adds:

 “We are already seeing the first hints of autumn leaf colour and there is the hope that this might be a special year, the gardens here can present a show of autumn colour to match any in this country”.

Japanese maples are the backbone of The Savill Garden displays and can be found in a huge range of different forms. Their leaves vary in colour from butter yellow, to orange, red and the intense claret of the famous old cultivar, ‘Ozakazuki’. The Valley Gardens contain an equally impressive display of maples but their scale has allowed the planting of large numbers of other species for autumn, the mass planting of the dawn redwood, near the Heather Garden is rightly famed for its spectacular effect.

After a refreshing walk in The Royal Landscape, visit the award winning Savill Building which provides excellent visitor facilities including a gift shop, gallery and self-service restaurant offering hot and cold snacks and traditional cream teas.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

1.  The Royal Landscape is an area of a thousand acres of lakes, gardens and parkland, accessible to the public, at the southern end of Windsor Great Park. It includes The Savill Garden, the Valley Gardens and Virginia Water Lake. It is a man-made landscape, which has been shaped and planted over a period of 400 years. For more information call 01784 435544 or visit  www.theroyallandscape.co.uk.

2.  The Savill Garden is one of England’s finest woodland and ornamental gardens with 35 acres of trees, shrubbery, ponds and streams, lawns, meadows and formal beds which are home to some of the world’s most decorative plants.

3.  The Savill Garden is open all year (except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). Admission prices to The Savill Garden Summer 2011 (March-October): Adults £8.50; Seniors £7.95; Groups (10+) £6.95; Children (6-16) £3.75; Coach Driver Free; Carers Free; Blue Badge Guides Free; Group organiser/leader Free (1 per group and Garden admission only).

4.  The Crown Estate manages a highly diverse property business valued at more than £7 billion.  We pay our surplus revenue (profit) to the Treasury for the benefit of the nation every year: in 2010/11 this was £230.9 million. Over the past ten years The Crown Estate has paid nearly £2 billion to the Treasury.

5.  Our objectives, which are laid down by Parliament under the Crown Estate Act 1961, include enhancing the value of the estate and the revenue it produces. The responsibilities of The Crown Estate are to maintain and enhance the value of the estate and its income over the long term and to do this having regard to good management.  In summary, The Crown Estate is a successful business organisation guided by our core values – commercialism, integrity and stewardship.

6.  The Crown Estate manages a diverse property portfolio which includes office, retail and industrial premises; housing; farmland; forestry and minerals; parkland; and around half the foreshore and almost all the seabed around the UK. The Crown Estate’s property comprises four estates: Urban, Marine, Rural and Windsor.

For more press information call Sarah Halstead, Marketing Dept, The Crown Estate, on 07918 121905 or email sarah.halstead@thecrownestate.co.uk